Improvement in safety car-trucks



UNITED STATES PATENT @FFIGE.

DAVID E. DUTROW, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SAFETY CAR-TRUCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1 88,61 1, dated March20, 1877 application filed January 29, 1877.

Washington and District of Columbia, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Devices for Preventing Railroad- Trains fromRunning OE the Track 'and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to prevent accidents upon railroads,caused by the breakage of an axle or wheel; and it consists in supplyingthe axle of an ordinary railroad locomotive or car with a center-wheelflanged to run near a center-rail situated betwen the ordinary rails ofthe road, and providing said wheel with independent hangers orpedestals, so as to secure two wheels in place if the third one shouldbecome detached or break.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation, referring to the annexed drawing, whichforms a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a planview of my invention. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same; and Fig. 3shows a modification of my invention, applicable to the fire boxes ofthe locomotives.

A A represent the rails of the ordinary or usual railroad-track. In thecenter between, and parallel with, saidlrails A is placed a third railcomposed of a wooden beam, B, covered on top by an iron cap or bar, 0,which latter may be made wider than the wooden beam, so as to project onboth sides thereof, or the metal cap may be made of the same width asthe wooden beam.

The center rail thus constructed is secured to the tie E by means ofknees D D on both sides of said rail, and this rail is made somewhathigher than the ordinary rails A A, as shown fully in Fig. 2, or it maybe of the same height as rails A A.

G represents the car-truck provided with we 1 H axles a a, each of whichhas upon its ends the usual single-flanged Wheels H H to run upon therails A A.

In the center of each shaft a is secured a wheel, I, provided on eachside with a deep flange, J, as shown. This double-flanged wheel is ofsuch diameter that the tread of the wheel will not be in contact with,but slightly elevated above, the center-rail B 0, while the flanges J Jextend down on both sides of said rail. 12 b are pedestals attached tothe cross-beam of the car-truck G and extending down on each side of thedoubleflanged wheels I J. These pedestals embrace the axles, but arewithout bearings, and in case an outside wheel should break thepedestals serve as supports for the axle, holding it securely in place.

It will readily be seen that if, from any cause, any one of the rails Ashould be broken or displaced the car-truck G will settle down towardsuch side until the wheel I bears upon the center-rail, when the carwill run on said centerrail and the unbroken side rail until the wheelson the other side get upon that side rail again. By this means the caris prevented from running ofi' the track, while in ordinary runningthere is no additional friction to retard the movement.

Under the fire-box of the locomotive it would be impossible to arrangethe doubleflanged wheels as above described, and in that case, on thefront and rear ends of the fire-box, are secured two parallel bars, L L,well braced, projecting asuitable distance below the same, and betweensuch bars is mounted a wheel, P, which wheel is to be directly over thecenter-rail, and the bars L should extend below the wheel, so as takethe place of, and act as, the flanges described on the wheel I, or asmall double-flanged wheel may be used.

At the front end of the locomotive the donble-flanged wheels may bearranged upon the axles of the ordinary wheels the same as under thecar-trucks.

Having thus fully described my invention, What I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with the axle a operating in the usual manner andcarrying the center-wheel I, the pedestals or hangers b b, constructedand operating substantially as described.

2. The bars L L, attached to a locomotive, as described, and having thewheel P mounted between them, in combination with a rail arrangedcentrally between the rails of a railroad-track, substantially as andfor the purposes herein set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

DAVID E. DUTROW.

Witnesses CHARLES S. HEEBON, CURTIS F. DUTROW.

